ALBUQUERQUE — Hot-air balloon pilots are mourning the death of one of their own the day after he was killed and another pilot was injured in a fiery crash, but they said the pilot fighting for his life would want them to keep on flying.

Unfortunately, Saturday's weather failed to cooperate. Windy and stormy weather grounded balloons readying for a mass ascension in the morning, and evening fireworks and a balloon glow also were canceled, lending to a somber mood at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Keith Sproul of North Brunswick, N.J., was critically injured Friday when the gondola of his Wings of Wind balloon crashed into power lines and exploded into flames in Bernalillo. His co-pilot, Stephen Lachendro of Butler, Penn., was killed.

Sproul's condition remained critical Saturday, a hospital spokesman said.

"Our friend who's fighting for his life in the hospital, he would have wanted us to fly if it was flyable. I mean, that's what we do," said balloon pilot Chris Keefe of Oshkosh, Wis.

Keefe said Sproul was one of about a dozen balloon pilots who are members of the dawn patrol, a handful of balloons that launch before dawn to test the air currents before the mass ascension of hundreds of balloons later in the morning.

The pilots said Sproul would want them to learn from the tragic accident.

For example, he has always insisted on wearing clothes made from natural fibers, like cotton, when he flew because of the danger of getting burned, pilot Mark Leibelt of Friendship, Wis., said. Nylon jackets melt when hot and cause more serious burns, he said.

Pilot Craig Kennedy of Albuquerque said of Sproul: "I'll bet you that he will share his experience with any pilot who will listen to explain what happened, so that we can learn from it."

The pilots said a ceremony was held at the daily pilot's briefing Saturday morning for Lachendro and Sproul.

Asked about the mood at the briefing, Keefe said, "We lost a friend."

Balloon fiesta spokeswoman Kathie Leyendecker said Lachendro was a "very well-loved pilot. There's lots of warm conversations and reminiscing going on today."

She said many pilots remembered Lachendro, the father of three grown children, playing with a remote-control balloon a couple of years ago.

A local hotel has offered free rooms for Lachendro's and Sproul's families, and a bank has opened accounts for them so friends can help them deal with any expenses, she said.

Despite the tragedy, pilots and fiesta organizers gave no thought to shutting down the festival, which ends today.

"It provides a lot of joy and excitement for a lot of people," Keefe said. "We don't consider (ballooning) a risk-taking activity. Just like an airline pilot flying cross-country with a load of passengers, he doesn't consider his job a risky thing."

Kennedy said he would not even consider any suggestion that organizers should close the balloon fiesta when there's a death. "To take an all-American event and shut it down, that's ridiculous," he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash. An FAA spokesman said Saturday it would be at least several weeks before the agency would release any information about what caused the crash.

Witnesses on the ground said it was windy at the time of the accident, and authorities said they received several reports of hard landings within about 15 minutes of the crash.

A majority of the accidents that resulted in deaths over the years were caused by balloons hitting power lines. Six people died between 1990 and 2007 when their balloons hit or snagged power lines. Four other deaths occurred in a 1982 accident when propane tanks on their balloon exploded.




© Copyright Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.